When celebrating Thanksgiving or creating a Thanksgiving Unit Study, the LEGO Mayflower is a fun, hands-0n activity for older learners.
Please be aware that this LEGO Mayflower is for more experienced builders. The LEGO Mayflower building instructions are very detailed.
I honestly think the reason the LEGO company provides just pictures of builds as instructions has nothing to do with the language barrier between the nationalities who enjoy LEGO and everything to do with how complicated it is to put each step into words.
But, we did our absolute best and just in case that fails there are tons of pictures. Subscribe and receive the complete parts list and step-by-step instructions in a PDF format via email.
Building a LEGO Mayflower
The LEGO Mayflower is definitely easier to put together if you think of it in sections: the body of the ship (or hull,) the stern/cabin, the masts, and the bow.
Start by creating the body (hull) of the LEGO Mayflower since it is the base of the entire ship.
Using the 1×1 bricks with knobs gives the ship the look of having windows (or canons) down the sides.
If you don’t have the 1×1 bricks with knobs, a 1×4 with knobs will work or just skip the knobs completely.
You will also notice that we had a really interesting 1×2 brick with a type of ribbing on the sides. I have no idea where we got this brick but it just looks like it should be on the Mayflower.
The next section of the LEGO Mayflower can be either the bow or stern/cabin. Since the stern is more fun, we started there.
The stern/cabin has three levels but the bottom level was a little tricky since we didn’t build it directly onto the hull of the Mayflower. (Probably not the smartest.)
Nose cones and the 1×1 bricks with cutouts make really adorable windows but use whatever you have.
The masts are probably the simplest part of the entire LEGO Mayflower instructions. Aside from the round bricks (which can be swapped for square bricks if needed,) the bricks are pretty basic.
The masts attach to the hull of the ship and have a 2×2 space between them.
The red brick bows on top of the masts are totally optional but we like to tiny pop of color. I am sure on the real Mayflower there might have been a country flag but nothing quite as decorative.
Once the masts are in place, the only remaining parts are the front of the ship with the sail and the small sail to pop on top of the cabin.
Building a LEGO Mayflower is an excellent challenge for older children. And if you have younger children to keep busy, make sure to think about making a Thanksgiving Gratitude Box or Thanksgiving Gratitude Magnets.
Also be sure to check out these Thanksgiving ideas:
- Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
- Free Printable Thanksgiving Coloring Pages
- Elementary Thanksgiving Printable Pack
- Free Thanksgiving Unit Study Lesson Plan and Printables
- Thanksgiving Printable for Mom and Kids
- Keeping the Kids Busy (Thanksgiving Unit Study Add-On Ideas)
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